# The Chinese are flocking to the Lost City of Swedish Lesbians. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 8, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120 "2009-10-08T22:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/1 "2009-10-08T22:50:50Z")
DAMMIT! Who wouldn’t?!? [http://www.thelocal.se/22476/20091005/](http://www.thelocal.se/22476/20091005/) > [@](#): > > The town, supposedly founded in 1820 in the northern Swedish woods by a wealthy widow, boasts 25,000 residents and a medieval castle, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. > > A pair of blonde female sentries stand guard at the unnamed town, referred to in reports as “Shakebao” or “Chako Paul City”, and men wishing to enter risk being “beaten half to death” by police. > > In addition, many of the town’s female residents turn to homosexuality “because they could not suppress their sexual needs”, the Chinese news service Harbin News reports. The story also formed the basis of a Shanghai Media Group television report. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/2 "2009-10-08T23:44:46Z")
How did they lose it? I suppose no guy would admit to asking directions to the LCoSL. We should just _know_. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/3 "2009-10-09T00:00:32Z")
Maybe they took the phrase “Heidi-hole” too literally. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/4 "2009-10-09T04:25:14Z")
When I went to Thailand, every single one of my Chinese friends emphasized that I had to see the ladyboys. They were full of lurid and largely false tales about the phenomenea. Many border areas also feature drag shows particularly for Chines tourists. I think the fascination is largely because these thing ‘don’t exist’ in China, so people get to satisfy their curiousity and feel superior to ‘foreign excess’ at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Offkenter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f08c70/32.png) [@Offkenter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Offkenter)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/5 "2009-10-09T12:15:11Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Maybe they took the phrase “Heidi-hole” too literally. That may be the perfect pun. I don’t know whether to laugh out loud or run away screaming. 🙂 Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/6 "2009-10-10T09:36:42Z")
Heidi was Swiss, not Swedish, so points off for that. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/7 "2009-10-10T10:27:57Z")
It’s not rare for a Swede to be named Heidi. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/8 "2009-10-10T10:37:24Z")
How can it have a medieval castle if it was founded in 1820 ? (yes, I’m more intrigued by this than by a horde of sex-starved Swedish lesbians. Where do I hand in my man card ?) ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/9 "2009-10-10T10:37:45Z")
By Freya’s hairy armpits, someone ratted us out! :mad: (What the HELL kind of name is Chako Paul City?) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/10 "2009-10-10T17:32:37Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > How can it have a medieval castle if it was founded in 1820 ? > > (yes, I’m more intrigued by this than by a horde of sex-starved Swedish lesbians. Where do I hand in my man card ?) That bit’s easy enough to explain. A town could have been founded near a pre-existing castle. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/11 "2009-10-10T18:07:30Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > That bit’s easy enough to explain. A town could have been founded near a pre-existing castle. Which bits? The naughty bits? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/12 "2009-10-10T18:25:04Z")
[I suppose this small community has problems competing for those tourist dollars.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6245665/Dwarves-found-theme-park-commune-to-escape-bullying.html) ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/13 "2009-10-10T20:05:47Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > It’s not rare for a Swede to be named Heidi. Dunno why I got fixated on this but I did a little research, and it’s actually pretty rare. According to data from the Swedish [Central Statistical Bureau](http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/datasets/swedish-names-1998-2007/versions/1.txt), there have been less than 20 infants named Heidi born annually in Sweden since 1998. In fact, no girls born between 1998 and 2000 were named Heidi. Extrapolating a little bit for 2008 and 2009, we get probably 140 girls out of a total population of more than 9 million. Obviously can’t vouch for previous decades, but I’d be surprised if Heidi experienced a catastrophic drop in popularity from several hundred annually to zero in the 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/14 "2009-10-10T20:13:36Z")
Missed the edit window and I just can’t let this one go. This [list](http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart ____ 31043.aspx) from the SCB shows the top 100 women’s names - not just infants born - in Sweden; #100 - Ingela - checks in with barely 20,000 women (12,000 of whom actually use it). So even if Heidi is #101 we’re looking at about 0.2% of the overall population of Sweden. Verdict: rare. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/15 "2009-10-10T21:16:00Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > DAMMIT! Who wouldn’t?!? Guys who are bright enough to realize that this means they ain’t getting any there. ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/16 "2009-10-10T21:41:45Z")
> [@Walpurgis](#): > > (What the HELL kind of name is Chako Paul City?) Seriously, Swedish that name ain’t. I’d have named it Flateby or something, except that name is taken (population: 84). > [@Olentzero](#): > > This [list](http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart ____ 31043.aspx) from the SCB shows the top 100 women’s names - not just infants born - in Sweden; #100 - Ingela - checks in with barely 20,000 women (12,000 of whom actually use it). So even if Heidi is #101 we’re looking at about 0.2% of the overall population of Sweden. > > Verdict: rare. **Olentzero** , allow me to introduce you to a part of SCB’s website I think you might like: [Namnsök](http://www.scb.se/Pages/NameSearch ____ 259432.aspx). Specifically, there are 2999 women and one man called Heidi in Sweden, of which 2224 go by the name, for 0.03% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/17 "2009-10-10T21:47:32Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > Specifically, there are 2999 women and one man called Heidi in Sweden And that man is either the wimpiest guy in Sweden, or the biggest ass-kicker in all of Northern Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/18 "2009-10-10T22:48:11Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > **Olentzero** , allow me to introduce you to a part of SCB’s website I think you might like: [Namnsök](http://www.scb.se/Pages/NameSearch ____ 259432.aspx). You think correctly. I was trying to find something like that in my earlier research! > [@](#): > > Specifically, there are 2999 women and one man called Heidi in Sweden, of which 2224 go by the name, for 0.03% of the population. Even rarer than I estimated. I should have been a little more specific and said that 0.2% was a theoretical maximum, but the point still stands. **MEB** : Somewhere up there, Johnny Cash and Shel Silverstein are smiling because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/19 "2009-10-11T00:54:59Z")
Ignorance fought. The name might be rare, but being named Heidi is not going to raise anybody’s eyebrows. Nobody’s going to comment how rare the name is, it’s just a name among many others. I personally know and have known many people named Heidi. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120/20 "2009-10-11T01:15:33Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Guys who are bright enough to realize that this means they ain’t getting any there. You underestimate the power of voyeurism. And (wishful thinking about) secret bisexuals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-chinese-are-flocking-to-the-lost-city-of-swedish-lesbians/513120.md?page=2)